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SUE ADE: Holiday baking essentials: A can, a pan and a plan

If you’ve been the one in charge of Thanksgiving dinner for decades (like me), you’re bound to be looking for some new things to spring on your guests and family. Two of the things I’ll be offering this year, are Almond Crescent Rolls, as part of a quick continental-style breakfast, and sweet little Maple Acorn Cakelets, one of the new additions planned for the dessert table. Made with refrigerated crescent roll dough, the outrageously easy recipe for delicious Almond Crescent Rolls comes from the American Almond Products Company of Brooklyn, New York, whose products, among other items, include nut pastes; marzipan; natural nut butters; whole, sliced and granulated nuts; nut flours; “Schmear” fillings; poppy seed filling; cookie mixes and crunch toppings. The rolls, intensely flavored with Love ‘n Bake’s Schmear Almond Filling, take just minutes to assemble and, once baked, emerge from the oven golden-brown, fragrant and every bit as attractive as what you’d expect to find in a fancy pastry shop. Served warm, they are irresistible. Equally irresistible are Maple Acorn Cakelets, a bit of sweet whimsy molded with the help of Nordic Ware’s Acorn Cakelet Pan. These lovable mini cakes can be presented in a variety of ways, including sandwiched with pure maple syrup frosting, served in smaller portions as individual cakes, glazed and dipped in coarse raw sugar, or dusted with powdered sugar.

Sue Ade, a Lowcountry resident since 1985, is a gourmet baker and collector of vintage cooking utensils and cookbooks. She can be reached at kitchenade@yahoo.com or 683-0375.

RECIPE COURTESY LOVE’N BAKE® (WWW.AMERICANALMOND.COM)

1 (8-ounce) package refrigerated crescent roll dough

½ cup Love’n Bake Almond “Schmear” Filling

1 egg

1 tablespoon water

Sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Unroll the dough and divide into 8 triangles. Spread about 1 tablespoon Love’n Bake Almond “Schmear” filling over each portion of dough. Roll the dough up loosely starting from the wide end. Place on a greased baking sheet; curve dough into crescent shape. Beat the egg and water until foamy then brush each crescent with the egg wash. Sprinkle them with sliced almonds. Bake until golden brown, about 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Makes 8 rolls.

RECIPE COURTESY NORDIC WARE (WWW.NORDICWARE.COM)

(Recipe makes enough batter to fill the pan twice to make 36 cakelets.)

1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

1/3 cup milk

¼ cup pure maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon maple flavoring

½ cup butter, softened

½ cup light brown sugar

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Frosting

1/3 cup butter, softened

¼ cup pure maple syrup

1½ cups powdered sugar

1 to 2 tablespoons milk

Glaze

½ cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

1 to 2 tablespoons water

Coarse raw sugar

TO MAKE THE CAKE

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour pan; set aside. In small bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg; set aside. In liquid measuring cup, stir together milk, maple syrup, vanilla and maple flavoring; set aside. In a medium bowl, beat butter and brown sugar on medium speed, until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, scraping the bowl often. Reduce speed and blend in flour mixture, alternating with milk mixture, until all ingredients have been incorporated. Spoon 1 tablespoon batter into each of the wells of the pan. (Kitchen Ade Note: You are going to be filling the pan twice, so be sure not to use up all your batter at one time.)

Set aside remaining batter. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in pan. Using a serrated knife, cut off the portion of the cakelet that rose above the pan. Invert cakes on cooling rack. Wash, dry and prepare pan as before and repeat procedure with remaining batter.

TO MAKE THE FROSTING

In a medium bowl, beat ingredients together on medium speed, adding additional milk as needed until frosting is light and fluffy. Cover frosting and set aside.

TO MAKE THE GLAZE

In small bowl, stir together glaze ingredients, adding additional water until glaze is smooth and has the consistency of heavy cream. Using a pastry brush, brush glaze onto the acorn tops and then dip in coarse raw sugar; set cakelets on waxed paper for 1 hour to dry.

TO ASSEMBLE

Spread 1 tablespoon frosting on the flat side of a cakelet. Place a second cakelet, flat side down on top of the frosted cakelet. Set aside. Repeat with remaining cakelets. Makes 18 cakelets, or 36 individual cakes.